Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDs), also known as crib death, is a generic term used to classify infant deaths that are unexplained. It is the most common cause of death for children between two weeks and one year of age. The deaths usually occur during sleep and are more likely to occur in the winter than in the summer. Between five thousand and ten thousand cases of SIDs are reported in the United States every year.

Some people, including some medical researchers, believe that vaccines are one cause of SIDS. Harris Coulter and Barbara Loe Fisher, in their book DPT: A Shot in the Dark, reviewed all available information and medical literature on the topic and estimated that 10% of all SIDS cases are caused by DTP vaccine. Viera Scheibner, Ph.D., author of Vaccination: 100 Years of Orthodox Research Shows That Vaccines Represent a Medical Assault on the Immune System, says one study found that in the United States, the peak incidence of SIDS is between the ages of two and four months, when the first two mandatory vaccines are given (at the time of her study, they were DTP and polio), and that another study found a clear pattern of SIDS up to three weeks after immunization. A third study noted that each year three thousand children die within four days of vaccination. And in the late 1970s when the Japanese raised their DTP vaccination age from two months to two years, the death claims for DTP in Japan’s Compensation Program dropped.

Yet for the most part, the United States medical community refuses to acknowledge the evidence linking vaccines and SIDS. In 1991 and 1994 the Institute of Medicine published reports after reviewing scientific and medical data concerning adverse reactions to various vaccines that rejected the idea that there was a causal relationship between DPT and DT vaccines and SIDS. However, there was one situation in which the government stepped in and removed a hot lot of vaccine from the market.

On March 9, 1979, the Tennessee Department of Health reported to the Centers for Disease Control that there had been four unexplained infant deaths since November 1978. All the infants died within twenty-four hours of receiving their first DTP vaccination and oral polio vaccine. The deaths were classified as SIDS. But these were not the only SIDS deaths associated with vaccination and oral polio vaccine. The deaths were classified as SIDS. But these were not the only SIDS deaths associated with vaccinations in Tennessee. Between August 1977 and March 1978 and then between August 1978 and March 1979, the state reported a total of fifty-two infant deaths recorded as SIDS or from unknown causes. An investigation by the U.S. surgeon general led to the withdrawal of lot 64201 of the DTP vaccine.

In the years that followed, several DTP vaccine manufacturers added warnings to their product inserts. In 1984 Wyeth Laboratories stated that “The occurrence of SIDS has been reported following administration of DTP. The significance of these reports is unclear.” In 1986 Connaught Laboratories noted that “SIDS has occurred in infants following the administration of DTP. One study has showed no causal connection.”

Several other studies considered the issue:

A study published in the January 1983 issue of Pediatric Infectious Disease found a relationship between DTP vaccination and SIDS. The parents of 145 SIDS victims who died between January 1, 1979 and August 23, 1980, in Los Angeles were interviewed about their child’s vaccination history. A total of fifty-three children had received a DTP shot; twenty-seven of them had received it within twenty-eight days of their death. Seventeen deaths occurred within one week of the DTP vaccination and six occurred within twenty-four hours. The researchers stated that these SIDS deaths were “significantly more than expected were there no association between DTP vaccination and SIDS.”

In the April 1986 issue of Neurology, researchers reported on their evaluation of the medical records of 103 children who had died of SIDS. More than two-thirds of them had received their DTP vaccination before they died: 6.5% died within twelve hours of vaccination, 13% within twenty-four hours of vaccination, 26% within three days, and 37%, 61%, and 70% within one, two, and three weeks, respectively.

In 1987 researcher Alexander Walker published his study in the American Journal of Public Health, in which he stated that “we found the SIDS mortality rate in the period zero to three days following DTP to be 7.3 times that in the period beginning 30 days after immunization.” He also noted that the deaths were associated not only with the first shot but with each additional shot.

In 1994 two researchers reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology that infants die at a rate eight times greater than normal within three days of getting their DTP vaccination.

Dr. Viera Scheibner, who has conducted many studies of SIDS, measured episodes of apnea (breathing cessation) and hypopnea (abnormally shallow breathing) in infants both before and after they received DTP vaccination… Dr. Scheibner noted a significant increase in the incidence of both apnea and hypopnea after vaccination and that these episodes continued for several months. Her findings led her to conclude that “vaccination is the single most prevalent and most preventable cause of infant deaths.” Her bold statement has caused much debate over the years, and the controversy will continue until researchers can determine the role of vaccines in SIDS.

Bottom Line

Vaccines are supposed to stimulate the body’s immune system to produce antibodies to fight off disease-causing organisms, but it appears that in some people they are doing much more. The dramatic increase in the incidence of autoimmune disorders and the parallel increase in the number and potency of vaccinations for infants and young children, along with the fact that many autoimmune disorders are appearing soon after immunizations, are clear signs that there is a relationship among these factors.

The notes below are from “The Vaccine Book” by Dr. Robert Sears (October 2007; pages 181 – 183), which provides much more detail. This section is copied verbatim.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

Do vaccines cause SIDS? This is a lingering question, and the answer is probably no. The main challenge in researching SIDS is that in many cases the baby would have recently received one or more vaccines. The only way to answer this question would be to compare the rate of SIDS in an unvaccinated infant population to the rate in a vaccinated population. But there aren’t enough unvaccinated babies for a valid study. Statistical analysis has shown no link between vaccines and SIDS. Some point out that the SIDS rate is lower in a few countries that don’t use as many vaccines, but there are so many other differential factors among these countries that the studies aren’t really sound. We may never know for sure. See “Resources” in The Vaccine Book to review studies showing a possible link between the old (and no longer used) DTP vaccines and SIDS (page 265 of The Vaccine Book) as well as studies showing that DTP does not cause SIDS (page 266 of The Vaccine Book).

Order your copy ofThe Vaccine Bookfor much more valuable information, including an alternative vaccine schedule that is meant to minimize your child’s exposure to potential toxins, such as aluminum. Also, visitwww.TheVaccineBook.com for more updated information.

You’re welcome! I wrote about my blog theme a while ago but haven’t publicized it yet since that section of the site is still undeveloped. Here’s the link though: My Blog Theme. You can buy the theme from the link.

Best,
Ms. S

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